


Fade In (Breathe Out)

by fadeastride



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 13:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadeastride/pseuds/fadeastride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They've always lived beneath the sound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fade In (Breathe Out)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted elsewhere in March 2007. Inspired by a prompt including "Everything Must Go" by The Weakerthans.

Fade in to that night Bob is teching a show and Mikey is lingering about because it’s fascinating just to watch Bob work. When he spots Mikey, Bob lifts his headphones off of one ear and asks, “What do you want?” in a way that isn’t particularly rude or kind – it just is. Mikey shakes his head and makes his way toward Bob so he can get better look at what’s going on. They try to talk but the music is loud and most of what is said between them that night is lost beneath the sound. 

It doesn’t seem like it would mean a thing but, in retrospect, Mikey knows it meant _every_ thing. He knows now that they’ve always lived beneath the sound. 

It’s not long before Bob is teching the band’s shows on a semi-regular basis and meeting them for drinks afterwards. There are grazes of hands on knees and looks that rest on faces longer than they ought. Mikey asks Brian if Bob can do their shows more often. He says Bob will do them for free. What he doesn’t say is why.

No one questions Mikey’s insistence that Bob join the band. They’re good friends, it all adds up, one plus one equals two. The only problem is, here, one plus one equals one.

For months they live through a series of late-night phone calls between hotel rooms and nothing else. There are no touches, no kisses, nothing at all. Even the calls are void of any clues. This is out of fear. This is out of denial. This is something that can’t be ignored for much longer.

When they get to Chicago, Bob shows him around, takes him to all the big things people always want to see, leads him through some sprawling suburbia filled with pseudo-Mediterranean style tract homes. They comb through the clutter at nearby garage sales and, when Mikey finds a cheap brass ring, he (not so) jokingly proposes to Bob who (not so) jokingly accepts. The moment turns awkward and Bob pockets the ring but they will both think about it while watching TV at night. Somehow, however, it makes it decidedly less unexpected when Bob’s fingers make their way to Mikey’s hair and their mouths meet. The first kiss is quiet and unsure but the second is so much more.

It takes nearly a year for the rest of the band to catch on.

“Ten months,” Gerard says when the truth finally spills and he looks in his mind for a hint he might have missed but there are none. He repeats himself and Mikey moves nervously, thinks _ten months one week and two days_ , and says nothing.

There are no real changes among the band, only that Mikey stands a little closer to Bob occasionally. No one looks down or acts uncomfortable because it’s okay. 

Mikey meets this girl Alicia, who is cute and he sort of likes her. When he starts to feel like he’s supposed to, he proposes. He thinks of Bob and the garage sale and thinks that brass ring means more to him than this diamond one ever will.

They all put on their nice clothes and go to Frank’s wedding with Alicia sitting in the chair where everyone else knows Bob should be.

Mikey masters the art of deception and he holds onto Bob through the entirety of the album recording and its subsequent tour.

It takes three weeks for Bob’s laughter to last too long and sound so loudly. Five more days and Mikey is asking for things that Bob will never be ready to give.

Bob lets himself in to Mikey’s hotel room after a radio gig in Chicago. He puts his hands in Mikey’s pockets, pulls him close, and lets his chin rest on his shoulder for a moment.

“I’m out.” He says it so plainly but there is hurt pulling at the corners of his mouth. Mikey disentangles himself and takes a step back.

“What do you mean?”

“You two will make a beautiful family.”

There is a pause while the realization hits. Mikey reaches into his right pocket and pulls out the brass ring. He lifts his eyes to find Bob staring at the floor.

“I don’t…”

“You’ll be fine. You will love her and you will raise your children in a nice house in a nice town far away from any mention of me. There will be a boy and, and two girls who will look just like their mother and a swing set in your backyard and then she’ll smile at you when the kids are laughing and I promise you, I promise you I won’t even cross your mind.” 

Mikey flinches. “That’s not true.”

Bob looks him straight in the eye. “Yes. It is.”

The wedding is gorgeous, there’s no denying it. The band put on their nice suits again and mingle with the other guests but, when it comes down to it, there is an empty chair where everyone knows Bob should be. The pastor finishes and tells Mikey to kiss his bride. Alicia beams. Mikey just closes his eyes, breathes in, and breathes out.


End file.
